Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Trip To The Doc

We've been waiting for this day to meet with Chris' surgeon. So many questions! (And please can we be done with the shot?!)

Getting in and out of the car was much easier than two weeks ago. Getting dressed and down the stairs was much easier. In and out of bed, turning over on his stomach, sitting up, moving around, being awake for longer periods, going to the bathroom, eating... everything is much easier than two weeks ago. When all of the above felt impossible.

When we got to the room, Christopher immediately asked the resident who greeted us if he could get in the water when we went to Hawaii. The resident said definitely not. Even if the stitches were taken out, he shouldn't soak his leg because the wounds were still susceptible to... infection? wasn't clear what. But he did get Chris' bandages off -- Chris said it felt so good!

He left and Chris was pretty upset. Said he wouldn't be going to Hawaii if he couldn't "do anything." I said let's wait to see what his doctor said.

The Physician's Assistant came in next and she also was skeptical about pretty much everything. If stitches would even be coming out. If he should even travel to Hawaii. If he should go in the water. If he should put any weight on his leg. She was confusing, to say the least, because she lacked any confidence.

Soon, however, Dr. Rothberg met us. And he was confident, sympathetic, a good listener, funny, expert and everything a mom and patient could want and need. I felt so much better after getting to meet and talk with him.

Showing the butterfly piece of bone and what it looks like post-surgery

What he said:
*Hawaii sounds like a GREAT place to recuperate!
*Chris will need to have his shot the day we leave -- twice. And the day we come home -- twice. Because blood clot risk is heightened on airplanes. It's a minimal risk -- but why take it.
*His stitches look great and pretty sealed and of course he can soak in the ocean, pool, hot tub.
*He didn't take new x-rays this appt. but showed us the old post surgery x-rays and another patients that were a year old and how the injury will heal.
*Described that the butterfly portion of the break will fill in with bone and create a "lump" of bone around it and while it has a hump, Chris won't notice it and it will heal perfectly.
*Going to school will take a lot of energy and he wouldn't be surprised if Chris was only able to attend a couple of classes each day for a while.
*His leg is strong with the rod, but the bone is still broken and therefore causes a lot of pain. At some point as the bone begins to knit together, he'll be able to put more weight on the leg and the bone will start supporting his leg rather than the rod.
*He (like Matt) doesn't believe that Ibuprofen interferes with bone growth and Chris could take it along with Tylenol as he comes off pain meds.
*It's a good idea to get off the Oxycodone as soon as you can because it is so habit-forming. Coming off it even after only being on it for 2 weeks can cause some uncomfortable side-effects: weird dreams, upset stomach, diarrhea.
*He's never had a patient with the specific goal of being able to get back to doing a standing backflip, but he imagines that Chris will be able to do it again. His leg will be strong, but Chris will need to build up his muscles again so they're able to backflip.
*He thinks Chris can ski again in April. But start with the groomers. (Chris wanted to hit the rails right away.)

Stitches removal!

Our next appointment is in one month. Chris will start going to school next week, the day after we take Marty to the MTC. He will start with one or two classes and see how it goes. A new semester starts next week, so it actually is a pretty good time to have been out of school and start back. We are able to get on Home Seminary where a teacher (that apparently everyone loves) will come to the house once a week to meet with Chris. We also dropped his weight training class and are doing Home Release and he's going to do Computer Tech and Financial Lit packets for those credits. So he'll only have 3 classes a day until he can go back full time and start attending regular seminary. Glad for a good plan, good doctors, helpful teachers and a school counselor -- all who are working to help Chris have a good recovery.